


Sansitive

by Namoni_Heartflau



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-24
Updated: 2019-09-11
Packaged: 2020-07-19 04:13:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19967851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Namoni_Heartflau/pseuds/Namoni_Heartflau
Summary: Sans has spent most of his life feeling the emotions of the people around him and it can get a little overwhelming, especially when he can't control how he feels about the actions of a certain human that drops in.





	1. The Promise

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Undertale, or any of the characters in it, I'm just a huge fan and I wanted to add my own mess of an AU to Error's (bless his glitchy soul) ever growing problem!  
> That being said, I got this idea while thinking of Ink and how he can't feel emotions and I thought "well, what if there was a Sans who couldn't STOP feeling emotions?" And thus *jazz hands gesture at the fanfic* 
> 
> Anyway, I'm learning how to use this site so I hope it looks ok and I will add more tags later because I'm making this up mostly as I go, I do have a general idea of what needs to happen though!
> 
> (Also, I tried to nickname him Empathy!Sans but that was already taken by Freckled Boy on Aminoapps who has a really great idea going on there so Imma leave that to them and let the Multiverse pick a nickname if he ever gets out there)
> 
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few moments of peace in the morning. A couple soulbeats of pleasant solitude; that's all the time Sans has every day to just... exist. He slowly comes to full-consciousness, holding onto the lingering lethargy before it turned anxious. Time to start a new day.

"SANS!! GET UP YOU LAZYBONES! YOU'RE GOING TO BE LATE FOR WORK! AGAIN!" Sans' younger brother, Papyrus, yelled from just outside the bedroom door. Sans sat up to greet the annoyance that washed over him and he grumbles an irritated response. He is rewarded with another pounding on his poor door, "COME ON! YOUR BREAKFAST IS GETTING COLD!" 

Sans sighs in relief when optimism replaces the horrid annoyance. Deep in his soul, Sans hates feeling any negative emotions around his brother. He drags himself out of bed to the soundtrack of Papyrus boots thumping down the stairs with purpose. With a lazy grin he picks up his hoodie, barley giving the colorful stains a glance before shrugging it on and slowly making his way down the stairs to the living room where Papyrus stands hopping from foot to foot with a container of food held in his hands. 

This is definitely San's least favorite emotions, "h-heya bro. ya that worried we're gonna be late? why doncha take a small _break_ ? no need to get ready so _fast._ " His anxious grin grows wider, but softer when the anxiety quickly is replaced by a much preferred light-irritation.

"UGH, SANS! IT IS TOO EARLY FOR BAD PUNS, AND YOU'RE GOING TO BE EATING YOUR BREAKFAST AT YOUR STATION SINCE YOU'RE LATE." The container is shoved into Sans' hands and he restrains himself from rolling his eyes at his considerably taller brother as Papyrus basically shoves him out of the house.

"what about you? arentcha gonna come with me?" He looks up at Papyrus who shakes his head.

"MY SHIFT DOESN'T START FOR ANOTHER THREE HOURS AND I WANT TO SPEND THAT TIME COMING UP WITH MORE PUZZLES AND JAPES FOR THE HUMAN THAT WILL SURELY COME TODAY!!" His excited anticipation washes over Sans with a rush and he grins back at his baby bro striking what could be a heroic pose. 

"im sure they'll love whatever you come up with, you're the greatest after all." 

"I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, MOST CERTAINLY AM!! AND YOU, THE LAZY SANS, ARE MOST CERTAINLY EVEN LATER THAN YOU SHOULD BE! BE GONE!!! NYEHEH!!" The anticipation had been becoming more excited throughout the little spiel and Papyrus almost slams the door in his enthusiasm, but Sans puts a hand out to stop it.

"hey paps?" a timid feeling wells up in the depths of his own soul, but it is quickly doused by an onslaught of annoyance directed at him, accompanied by the patient but frustrated glare of Papyrus.

"WHAT IS IT, SANS?" 

~~_i love ya, bro._ ~~

"i just wanted to tell you that you pasta-ll my expectations for breakfast this morning." he lifts the container in a mock salute and Papyrus' eye sockets grow comically large before he slams the door with an aggravated "NYO!!" Sans grins though, the current emotion he feels letting him know that his brother actually liked that joke, and he sets off through the town towards his job at the sentry station. 

Walking through town is always a chore for Sans, Papyrus usually walks with him saying nonsense like "IT'S GOOD EXERCISE" and such, but it's hard. As he walks, an onslaught of emotions overcome him. Excitement, adoration, frustration, and despondency to name a few he could pinpoint at the moment. He glances around to see who's nearby: Monster Kid is counting presents under the Giftmas tree, the rabbit girl is walking her little brother, the librarian is outside looking at their misspelled sign, and the mouse with the scarf is gazing up at the rocky ceiling of their world; most likely thinking about how small the Underground actually is. 

Sans runs his phalanges over his skull, with a heavy sigh and does his best to ride out these foreign emotions. It's never good to try to focus on any one of them, just let them wash over him like a bucket of water and hope he can walk fast enough that Papyrus won't find anyone to stop and talk to-

He stops and facepalms. Papyrus isn't here, no one is _making_ him walk through town, he can _take a shortcut!_ He grins and takes a few more purposeful steps, the world dissolving around him ~~numbhelplesslost~~ and reforming, but now at his sentry station west of town; close to the Ruins Door. 

Out here is quiet for the most part. There are some teenagers that like to wander around feeling angsty and a lot of Gyftrot trying to avoid said teenagers, so Sans wouldn't say he could come out here to escape from other people, but it was much less overwhelming. Still, sometimes it was _too_ quiet. At times like those, when there was no outside stimulation and he had a moment to himself, all he could feel was a terrible emptiness. 

This was such a time, Sans discovered as he settled behind his station. There was no sound at all, and he became acutely aware of nothing. There was nothing outside, and there was nothing inside. Well, that's a lie, because now there was a panic. A _need_ to be around someone other than himself!

He stumbled out from behind his station and quickly made his way further west. He went over a little bridge and through a gate Papyrus had made to trap humans. (Yeah, he went right through! His brother made the bars too wide to actually trap anyone). He soon found himself in front of a pair of large doors. His panic subsided as he looked at it, replaced by the uncomfortable but safe nothing. He gave a little sigh and knocked on the door, then sat down and waited. 

"Who is there?" Kindness filled the empty spaces in Sans like he'd drank a cold glass of water. The voice behind the door brought a serene smile to his face.

"hatch" Sans leaned his head back against the door, a chuckle already bubbling inside his chest in anticipation.

"Hatch who?" The woman was the source of both their anticipated amusement.

"bless you" Sans' smile grew wider at the sound of her laughter and he couldn't hold back his own, not when hers was literally infectious! 

"Oh dear, that was a good one! What do you get from a pampered cow?"

"i dunno, what do you get?" He knew, he just wanted to hear it from her.

"Spoiled milk!" Her delighted laughter caused his soul to almost burst. It was beautiful, almost the best laugh he's ever heard next to Papyrus'.

They spent a good couple hours like that, telling jokes back and forth and reveling in the companionship. 

"hey, so i hafta go back to my station before my bro comes to check on me. i'll talk to ya later." Sans stands with a grunt and brushes snow off his shorts.

"Alright," the lady gives a lonely sigh and Sans shoves his hands in his pockets, "before you leave though, I wonder if I can ask you something?"

" 'course ya can." He shuffles his feet, not enjoying the heavy atmosphere.

"Since we've started talking, we've never asked any personal questions so I don't know you very well. However, I am of the opinion that I can't help but trust someone who honestly laughs at the same bad jokes over and over again. " 

Sans feels his face grow warm and is surprised by a sudden burst of pride coming from his own soul, "aw gee, thanks." Her own gratitude and love tempers his emotion, and then it's replaced with a hesitant sadness again. Sans rubs his glabella, a little dizzy from the rapid shift of emotions.

"And I hope that even though you don't know me very well either, you can place just a little faith in me and do a favor for me? If a human comes through this door, would you please watch over them?"

Sans is paralyzed by her nervous hope, "lady, I'm not usually one for making promises… a human?" 

"Yes." She sounds resolute, "One that is very dear to me. I will try to keep them here as long as I can, but-" her voice wavers, "but every one I've tried that with always seems to get past me one way or another. I- I worry for their safety out in the Underground." 

Sans rubs his eye sockets with his hands and sighs, "h-hey, it's ok, lady. i'll do my best, alright?"

"Promise me." He could barely hear her plea through the thick doors.

. . . 

"i promise." Hope blooms over him.

"Thank you, my friend. That means so much to me."

"heh," he grins easily, "don't worry about it. _snow_ problem for me." Her chuckle is worth the over-used winter pun. 

"I be- _leaf_ you." 

They say their goodbyes and Sans goes back to his station, holding onto that lingering feeling of comradre for as long as he can. Not even worried about when a human might come to make him live up to this strange promise. 


	2. Your Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans spends some time with Papyrus; Papyrus can be brash sometimes but he really does love his older brother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I freaking love Sans and Papyrus' relationship! I could probably write an essay about the different versions of them (UnderFell, UnderSwap, etc.) about how and why each of their relationships are different. 
> 
> Shout out to my own little brother: who puts up with me shoving Undertale videos in his face every time I see him, and shares the joy of pun making with me. Love you, bro ♡
> 
> On an unrelated note, I'm going to try to update every Wednesday and Friday so keep an eye out for those. Thanks to everyone who's given this story Kudos, y'all have no idea how thrilled I was when I got the first one! 
> 
> Also, I'll be posting extra things to the story on my Instagram (namoniheartflau4) if y'all want to go check it out. I wouldn't claim that my art is great but it's there. *shrug* And who knows, maybe I WILL write a short essay about the different AU brothers and MAYBE I'll put it there. Who knooowwwwss~

Papyrus is surprised when he finds Sans awake at his station! Sans in turn is surprised as well of course, but he just grins up at his younger brother.

" 'sup, paps? seen any humans lately?" 

"IF THERE WERE ANY HUMANS, YOU WOULD HAVE SEEN THEM FIRST." Papyrus rolls his eyes a bit, Sans refrains from returning the gesture.

"you're right as always, bro." The mood picks up with the praise and Papyrus strikes an impressive pose.

"NYEHEH! OF COURSE! DID YOU LIKE YOUR BREAKFAST SPAGHETTI?" Sans can't find it in himself to feel guilty because he forgot to eat it, there's just too much joyous pride coming from the taller skeleton. There's no harm in a little deflecting, right?

"i always like your spaghetti, paps." The joy increase!s believe it or not, and Papyrus blushes happily.

"ANOTHER SUCCESS FOR THE GREAT PAPYRUS! NOW GET BACK TO WORK! A HUMAN COULD COME THROUGH THAT GATE ANY MINUTE!" He chuckles and starts to walk away but Sans comes out from behind his station with his hands in his pockets.

"mind if I come with you?"

"HM? YOU ARE STILL WORKING THOUGH! JUST BECAUSE YOU WEREN'T ASLEEP WHEN I FOUND YOU DOESN'T MEAN YOU GET TO REWARD YOURSELF WITH LAZINESS NOW." 

"i'm on break now." Sans shrugs through the suspicious confusion. Papyrus squints down at his older brother for a long time, as if trying to see if Sans is lying or not.

"THEN I SUPPOSE YOU MAY ACCOMPANY ME FOR A SHORT WHILE. BUT THEN YOU GO RIGHT BACK TO WORK!" He grins, the joy back, and marches down the path towards his various puzzles. Sans basks in the warm feeling and follows his brother contentedly. He loves being around Papyrus when he's in a good mood like this! 

They do this for the next twenty minutes. Papyrus humming some song he made up while he calibrates his puzzles, and Sans sits in the background taking a nap when he can. The both of them just enjoying being in each other's presence. Sans counts all the emotions Papyrus experiences when it comes to his puzzles. Pride when he first sees them, skepticism while looking for flaws, annoyance when one is found, contentment while fixing it, and then joy when it's up to his standards. He then gets Sans up and they set off to the next one with excitement! Sans takes all of it in with his trademark grin, just glad Papyrus is having so much fun. 

Papyrus suddenly turns on his heel to point at his dozing brother, "SANS!!" 

Sans, suddenly overcome with indignation out of nowhere, startles awake, "papyrus! … what is it?" 

"I HAVE JUST REALIZED THAT YOU HAVE NOT CALIBRATED YOUR PUZZLES AT ALL!" He stomps his foot in frustration, "HOW COULD I HAVE LET THIS HAPPEN? WE WALKED PAST YOURS AGES AGO!! AND YOU DIDN'T EVEN SAY ANYTHING!" 

"that's because I'm on break, papyrus. i'm not gonna work when i can just sit here and enjoy my time off." Sans all but growls, trying to fight away the growing irritation in the air.

"WELL YOUR BREAK ENDS IN FIVE MINUTES SO YOU MIGHT AS WELL DO  _ SOMETHING _ BEFORE YOU GO BACK TO YOUR STATION TO INEVITABLY TAKE ANOTHER NAP!" Papyrus shakes his head and ignores the glare Sans shoots him. 

"well i don't want to." Sans hunkers down into his coat, suffocating on all the negativity rolling off his brother.

"SANS! YOU LAZY BONES, YOU NEVER WANT TO DO ANYTHING BUT SLEEP AND GO TO GRILLBY'S!" 

Sans clutches his shirt, disappointment filling his ribcage and squeezing his soul.

"that's not true…" he mumbles quietly. A gasp of relief escapes him when the bitter disappointment is filled with skeptical curiosity.

"WHAT WAS THAT?" Papyrus squints at him and Sans takes a breath, trying to find the right words that will make Papyrus happy again. 

"i said that's not true. there are other things i want to do." 

"LIKE WHAT EXACTLY?" 

Sans looks up at his brother, "like… building snow skull-ptures? with you?"

Papyrus blinks in surprise, the randomness of the idea completely masking the pun. He takes a moment to really look at Sans, taking in the hunched shoulders that are relaxing as slowly as his own irritation. When he looks him in the eyes he seems to see something that completely changes his mood.

Sans straightens, his own confusion surfacing briefly when he feels the change. Where they had both been getting angry just moments ago, now they were a mix of surprise, confusion, and guilt. 

"SANS . . . WELL," Papyrus wrings his hands together, "IT JUST SO HAPPENS THAT I HAVE ENOUGH TIME TO TAKE A SHORT BREAK AS WELL." Sans just stares up at him, unsure what to do about the change in Papyrus. Papyrus waits to give him a chance to say anything before continuing, gaining more confidence as he goes, "AND! SINCE YOU ARE ALSO ON BREAK, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WOULD LIKE TO MAKE SNOW SCULPTURES WITH YOU!" He beams down at Sans hopefully.

Sans can't help but smile back at him, the hope and optimism warmly chasing away any lingering negativity, "sure paps, that sounds fun." He stuff his hands in his pockets as Papyrus literally sparkles and starts rambling about what he's going to create. 

They walk to a little empty space and fill the silent snow with echoes of their amicable chatter. Papyrus' unique laughter rings over the trees and Sans' reserved chuckle skitters over the icy ground. 

Snowdrake passes by at one point. Sans notices because he recognizes that the curiosity he suddenly feels is not coming from Papyrus (who is focused on building a replica of himself) Sans glances around and spots the teenager looking at them from a distance. Loneliness replaces the curiosity and Sans remembers that the kid has been having a bit of a rough time lately with his own family. Snowdrake returns a small wave before leaving them to their antics. 

"SANS!" Papyrus' sudden exclamation startles Sans so badly that he falls right onto the small skull he was crafting, rendering it nothing more than a pile of snow, "OOPS! I'M SO SORRY!" Papyrus' worry is laced with hesitant humor so Sans, not wanting to lose the good feelings they've been experiencing, starts laughing.

"nah bro, you just scared me right outta my skin." He grins at the relief Papyrus feels.

"SANS, NO. WE ARE EXPERIENCING BROTHERLY BONDING TIME. DO NOT RUIN THIS WITH YOUR PUNS."

"aw, but bro, i have a skele-ton of puns to increase bone-ding between two guys with a spine for it. it doesn't b-r-other me." He has no regrets as he receives a snowball to the face.

"NO! YOU'RE RUINING IT!" 

Sans grins up at him, genuine happiness coming from both the inside and outside sources, "sorry, didn't mean to get you all rattled up." He snickers and dodges another snowball thrown at him, "what? You got a bone to pick with me now?"

"STOP!!" Papyrus laughs and chases his insufferable brother with more snowballs.

This game goes on for a few minutes until Sans tires out and falls face first into the snow with a laugh, giving Papyrus an opportunity to cover him in a pile of snowballs. The taller brother eventually reaches into the pile and pulls Sans out, holding him up to look at him. They just grin at each other for a moment, basking in the love and happiness shared between them. 

"I'M SORRY, SANS."

Sans wracks his memories for something Papyrus should be sorry for, "why?"

"I KNOW YOU ARE NOT AS GOOD AT CONTROLLING YOUR FEELINGS LIKE I AM, AND I STILL YELLED AT YOU EARLIER. I COULD SEE THAT IT WAS MAKING YOU UPSET."

Sans takes a moment to contemplate how ironic it is that it was actually Papyrus' own emotions that were upsetting him, "it's ok, paps. we're better now."

"I'M STILL SORRY. I DON'T MEAN TO HURT YOU. I LOVE YOU, BROTHER." He looks Sans straight in the eye. His honest love and resolve washes over Sans with an intensity that makes his soul feels like it might burst. 

"i know that, papyrus." Papyrus beams again and sets Sans down, "but well, I guess my break is over. i should go back to work."

"RIGHT! YOU ARE RIGHT! BUT YOU DIDN'T GET TO FIX YOUR SCULPTURE." They look over at the messy lump sitting next to Papyrus' own magnificent piece of art. 

Sans shrugs, "eh, I call it: napping under a snow poff." He pulls out a red marker from his jacket and signs his name on it, "I'll sell it for a ton of gold and get rich on minimalism."

"SANS, THAT IS SO LAZY!" 

Sans winks at his brother, "you know me so well."

Papyrus stomps his foot, "JUST GO BACK TO YOUR STATION!" He watches as Sans shrugs and starts walking towards town, "THAT IS THE WRONG WAY!"

"don't worry," the smaller skeleton grins wider and just talks over his shoulder as he steps through one of his shortcuts, "i'm taking a shortcut."

"DON'T YOU DA-" Papyrus' protests are cut off as Sans appears back at his station. He breathes in the cold, silent air and settles in his seat with his slippered feet up on the counter. After a moment he closes his eyes and drifts off to sleep with the lingering happiness slowly draining out of him, leaving him and his dreams empty. 


	3. Heartache

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans experiences his first LOAD and some very complex feelings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made it! Sorry if this one feels short or rushed, I've been trying to figure out some things with my college and housing so I barely had time to work on this. The next chapter will be better.
> 
> STILL I loved writing this chapter and I hope I did it some justice. I've been reading a lot of other Fan fiction that are all so good, the thought that one day someone will love this one as much as I love some of the ones I've read, fills me with determination!!

Sans opens his eyes with a startled cry!

He clutches at his shirt and leans over his knees, his soul pounding erratically and tears spilling from his eye sockets. His bones rattle together as he tries in vain to stop his shaking. Fear and sadness building on top of each other, he had never known he could feel THIS scared in his life! And he doesn't even know what's causing it! 

"pap…" he struggles to walk around his station, trying to will himself through a shortcut, but it's not working. Instead, he finds himself on his knees in the snow as the most soul-shattering sorrow pulses through him. He can't breathe. The fear is gone, but the sorrow, the heart-break, the  _ guilt _ . It's all he can thin-

Sans opens his eyes with a startled cry!

He clutches at his shirt and leans over his knees, his soul pounding erratically and tears spilling from his eye sockets. He grips the edge of his station to steady himself as the deepest sorrow tears his soul apart. Underneath it, dread and confusion. 

"pap…" he uses his station to keep himself upright as he makes his way out to the snowy path and looks around, trying to figure out where the source of these emotions are coming fro-

Sans pulls himself from sleep, sorrow making it difficult to open his eyes, but feeling a little more determined than usual to do so. For a few moments he just sits there with blank eye-sockets, the sorrow slowly turns into resignation and it feels like nothing in the world matters right now. 

At the same time, he has an odd urge to get up and do something. Determination fuels his movements as he hoists himself out from behind his station and he positions himself in the middle of the path so he can look around and find the source of these emotions. 

"heh, deja vu." He mumbles to himself, "hello? is there anyone here?" He waits for someone to reveal themselves. 

No one comes out oddly enough. Maybe they're too sad? His emotions have settled into a determined-resignation for now and he wonders what someone could be thinking about to be experiencing this. 

"hello? are you ok?" He calls out again, but still doesn't get a response. Not for the first time does he wish he had the ability to know where his outside emotions came from, "well, paps should be coming to check on me any minute so he'll find them on his way here if they're down the path that way." Sans turns back to the Ruins and starts walking down that path, scanning the edges of the forest for any sign of lif-

Sans opens his eyes and places a hand over his soul. 

"what the heck?" He stares at the bottles of condiments behind his station for a moment. Sadness making his soul feel heavy, but determination giving his body the strength to walk out to the path to look around, "what's goin' on?" 

He starts back down the path towards the Ruins. Still keeping an eye out for someone nearby, but also looking for his own footprints. If he accidentally shortcutted back to his station, his footprints should still be here. It had only been a few seconds since he was just here after all.

But there were no footprints.

He's too sad to care; too determined to find out what's going on rather than just ignore it.

The doors to the Ruins looks before him finally and he stuffs his hands further into his pockets. He had not seen anyone between here and his station and the intensity of his emotions has only gotten stronger. Could it be coming from behind the doors? Is his friend ok? What could be going on in there?? He places a hand on the surface and tries to imagine what could be happening. Fear mixing with the sadness again. 

Slowly, so slowly he almost didn't notice it, his shoulders start to relax. A warmth starting to spread and cover the sorrow, the fear. His determination slowly morphs into hope. This continues until he gives a sigh of relief and smiles. He remembers Alphys' cameras and quickly wipes his eyes to remove any lingering tears.

Stepping away from the door he shakes his head at himself. Feeling a little silly at his overreacting when now all he can feel is love, hope, and just a lingering of trepidation. He knocks on the door and waits to see if his friend will come and maybe tell him what happened, but after a few minutes decided she was probably too busy dealing with  _ that _ to come answer him. With a shrug, he heads back to his station

The door creaks open.

Sans takes a step into a shortcut and reappears in the woods to the side of the path, eye sockets wide as he stares at the now open door, nervous curiosity filling the space behind his ribcage.

A human child inches through the doorway.

The door shuts.

Dread and anxiety permeates the air.

"the seventh human." Sans whispers to himself, the thought of finally reaching the surface doing nothing to ease the anxiety he feels.

Then he remembers his promise.

. . . "well, shoot." He watches as the hope of all monsters starts exploring its way down the path towards his station. 


	4. A New Pal?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans makes a new friend, but they're a little weird. They think the same of him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CHECK THE END FOR AN UPDATED NOTE 
> 
> Heyo! Another chapter down, and I'm so glad! I've been waiting so long to get to this chapter since I finally get to put my ASL knowledge to use!  
> I'm also excited because some important things about my Sans is revealed and from now on Frisk will continue to draw attention to it but Sans won't find out what they're talking about until much later. 
> 
> Also, I realized there's a discrepancy in my story. Normally, people assume that Sans is aware of resets done by Flowey before Frisk showed up and I forgot that when I wrote the last chapter. In this universe, Sans hasn't been aware of it before because he can't feel emotions from Flowey, since he's soulless, and so wasn't affected by the determination. But with Frisk, Sans can feel their determination, which allows him to remember loads and resets and such. 
> 
> ☆☆☆Going forward, the story is going to follow Sans' perspective of a Pacifist run. Some scenes I want to hit on include: going through Papyrus' puzzles, fighting Undyne, the Judgement Hall, fighting Asgore, and then the struggle to get Outside (which is not the end of the did btw). But is there any other scene someone else wants included? A trip to Grillbys? The talk at MTT Resort? I'm down for requests*. 
> 
> *not all scene requests will be fulfilled because I don't want the fic to get too long, but I do want to add some filler so it's not too short either.

The human is obviously uncomfortable as it travels down the path. Its arms held close to its body, eyes darting from side to side as if looking for anything to blame their nerves on.

Sans experiences the same anxiety. Staying out of sight, almost holding his breath in an attempt to remain unseen. He realizes he really doesn't have anything to be afraid of. This is obviously a child (he can tell because they're wearing a striped shirt) and it doesn't know he's here, so he has the upper hand. Still, he hesitates; the human's own fear affecting his ability to take action. He needs to do something to ease the tension.

His first idea is to break the silence. So far, the only sound has been the human's footsteps. They even go out of their way to avoid a branch on the ground from breaking! In an attempt to end all this awkwardness, Sans activates his magic and the gravity around the branch increases.

**CRACK**

The human spins around, placing a hand over their beating heart, and stares at the broken piece of wood. 

Sans' eye lights go out as he mirrors the human's frightened position, his own phalanges digging into his shirt in a false attempt to grab his soul and force it to stop drumming on his ribs. He determines that that had been a bad idea. 

The human scans the woods for any movement before they themselves turn back around and continue walking, a little slower now. 

As the and Sans calm down a little, Sans comes up with another idea to help the tense atmosphere. Maybe if they saw him they wouldn't be so frightened. He opens a shortcut and steps through. He appears a few feet behind the human and starts walking after them.

Only to immediately blip back into the woods in fear when the human spins around to gaze wildly at the spot he had just been. He facepalms himself and waits for the human to calm back down. How is he supposed to do anything when their fear makes it impossible to do anything?? 

"come on, sans. how do people usually stop being afraid of things?" he mumbles to himself as the human turns back around and throws themselves back down the path with renewed vigor, anxious to get away from whatever spooky thing is in the woods. He chuckles at the thought that anyone could be scared of this bag of bones.

Suddenly the answer is so obvious! What's the one thing he always falls back to when he's uncomfortable and doesn't know what to do in a bad situation? What's the one thing he can do to make Papyrus feel comfortable and normal when he's anxious and stressed? Jokes!! A good joke should help the human know he doesn't mean any harm to them.

…

He just needs to push through their fear first. Get close enough to bust down the defensive walls they've built around their psyche. 

The human pauses at Papyrus' bridge gate; they seem wary of a trap or trick of some sorts.

Sans reappears behind them and takes a breath, searching for any emotion from the human besides fear. There, hurried underneath it all: determination. He clings to that and starts pressing forward towards the child. 

The first sound of footsteps crunching in the snow causes a fresh wave of fear to roll off the human in front of Sans. So powerful it makes his body want to stop moving, it seems to be having the same effect on the human since their body freezes all movement. Sans, however, holds on desperately to the trace amounts of determination he can feel and keeps walking. The effort causing his steps to be heavier than normal. 

Finally he's standing right behind the kid. Finally he can see their individual strands of hair and the weird bumpy texture on their arms. The fear is at an all-time high, so his speech is slower and quieter than he'd like it to be.

"Human. Don't you know how to greet a new pal?" The human neither makes a sound or move an inch in response to that question, Sans decides to give them a little help, "Turn around and shake my hand."

Very slowly, the human turns around. Neither of them breathing, the silence between them almost deafening. Sans forces himself to move through the sluggish pull of fright on his bones and reaches a hand out to them. 

One second.

Two.

Then a burst of determination that almost knocks Sans backwards as the human's hand shoots out and grabs his own. 

**Ppbbtthhhhbbbthhbbp**

Confused shock washes over the both of them, and it's so relieving for Sans that he starts laughing! 

"Mweheh! the old whoopie cushion in the hand trick! It's always funny." It's probably not as funny as he thinks, but the relief from the tense atmosphere is enough to pull a sincere laugh from him. The feeling is mutual apparently since the human starts their own set of silent giggles. Their amusement increases Sans' humorous state and causes another round of laughter to bust out of him, which the human finds hilarious and their shoulders start shaking harder, and this continues until they're both doubled over, clutching their stomach and kneecaps respectively. 

"l-listen, k-kid, heh," Sans gasps out between huffs of laughter, "we- heheh, we hafta stop. i'm- i'm supposed to be capturing humans right now."

The human sobers up real quick at that. Some old trepidation returning, and thus Sans is able to stand upright, not even a giggle left in his non-existent lungs. 

"buuut, i don't really feel like capturing anybody right now." He shrugs and smiles easily when the human feels reassured of their current safety, "the name's sans, by the way. sans the skeleton."

The human smiles and lifts a hand for him to see. Then their hand starts to make different shapes. They make a circle with their pointer and thumb, the other three fingers in the air; then they cross their pointer and middle finger; then just their pinky is in the air; a closed fist with the thumb in front: then a sideways peace sign with their thumb in between the other two fingers. 

Sign Language. Something Sans hasn't seen in years. In fact, he can't remember where he first learned it actually.

"frisk?" The human beams with joy and nods at him, "huh, well, nice ta meetcha." He grins, enjoying the positivity shared between them. Frisk's eyes glance up above his head suddenly and then drift down his face to his shoulders. Curiosity mingling and dulling the pure joy. Frisk reaches a hand up and taps four fingers on their chin before pointing to the top of his skill.

Sans raises an eyebrow ridge, "colors? what colors?" They respond by signing 'yellow' and 'green'. Sans looks around but doesn't see anything out of the ordinary, "i don't know what you're talking about."

Frisk reaches a hand out and pets his shoulder, then they look at their hand with a mix of disgust and surprise. Their surprise and curiosity continues when they look back at him, a silent question behind their eyes. 

_ weird kid _

Sans shrugs and decides to ignore whatever just happened.

"but so yeah, my bro and i are sentries in this part of the woods, and while i don't feel like capturing anybody right now, by brother is a human hunting fanatic. i bet-" Sans cuts himself off when a familiar wave of irritation overcomes him, a glance at the confused and worried human tells him it's not them, "actually, that's him right over there."

Frisk looks over their shoulders nervously, but Papyrus isn't in sight yet.

"here's an idea, go through these bars and hide behind that conveniently shaped lamp. it should cover you no problem." He can feel Frisk's hesitation as he follows them over the bridge and watches them hide behind the lamp. 

Moments later, Papyrus makes his dramatic entrance. 

Sans stands in front of his younger brother with his hands in his pockets and his eyes closed, ready to deal with the storm of emotions coming from both people near him. 

Irritation as Papyrus rants about Sans' being too lazy to work on his puzzles.

Fear and betrayal when Sans suggests that Papyrus should take a closer look at the lamp.

Pride, excitement, and confusion while Papyrus dreams about what will happen when he finally captures a human.

Amusement and frustration when Sans makes a joke. 

Papyrus wistfully wishing he didn't have to work so hard to get some recognition.

And then pride as Papyrus makes his own joke before finally leaving to attend to some other duties apparently.

Sans sighs and tells the kid they can come out of hiding. They do so timidly, and gaze off in the direction Papyrus went. They stand there for a moment, unsure what to do next and unwilling to leave into the unknown.

"you'd better get going… there's nothing to be afraid of; just a dark cavern filled with scary monsters." Sans winces as the fear sharpens, "actually, hey, i was thinking. . . my brother's been kind of down lately and he's never seen a human before… seeing you might just make his day." The tense fear dissipates, "don't worry, he's not dangerous." He ignores the skeptic eyebrow raised in his direction, "even if he tries to be."

Frisk thinks about that for a moment, gazing at his head and absentmindedly makes the sign for green again. After some consideration, they're filled with determination and they nod at him with a smile.

Sans straightens his back and returns a smile to them, "thanks. well, i'll be up ahead." With that, he turns his back and walks in the opposite direction of his brother. Once he's out of sight of the human, he shortcuts over to Papyrus' station and begins searching for his brother, wondering what the kid is going to do now.

Frisk blinks in confusion and drags a pointer finger down their chin before heading in the same direction as Papyrus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hallo again, just a note to anyone checking in today: there won't be a chapter posted, I've been trying to get ready for a camping trip this weekend and haven't had time to write 😓 sooooo since I'll be gone on Friday too, I'll work a little harder and get two chapters out by tomorrow!
> 
> Thanks!  
> ♡~Namoni


	5. Puzzles and Japes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk learns that there is nothing to fear here in the Underground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised! Here is chapter 5, chapter 6 is on its way. I WILL get it out by today, but the battery life for both my tablet and my body are running low so, unfortunately, I have to sleep.

Sans is almost grateful for a moment that he hasn't found Papyrus yet. Today has been quite the rollercoaster so far and it's nice to just exist for a moment. Peacefully empty and left to his own thoughts.

These thoughts are currently centered around the human he recently met; Frisk. Despite what he's grown up believing, despite how everyone else feels about humans, this one doesn't seem bad. They and the lady behind the door seem to love each other, they're just scared. He can't imagine that any stories about Monsters on the Surface are anything but bad either. 

He sees Papyrus in the distance and his frustration pours down around Sans at the same time. Sans can only guess that it's about his puzzles again. 

"heya, bro." Papyrus looks at his brother and holds up a hand to tell him to wait; he has his phone up to his zygomatic process.

"UNDYNE! REST ASSURED THAT WHEN I FIND IT, I WILL WORK CEASELESSLY TO CAPTURE IT! IT SHALL NOT HAVE EVEN A SLIVER OF A CHANCE TO ESCAPE ME!" Sans can vaguely hear the loud voice of the Captain of the Royal Guard on the other side of the line, "NO, I AM POSITIVE THAT SANS WOULD HAVE REPORTED IT IF HE HAD SEEN IT. . . CERTAINLY! I WILL LET YOU KNOW AS SOON AS I HAVE IT SAFE IN MY CLUTCHES, NYEHEHEH!!" He hangs up with pride and excitement. Sans can't help but grin and think that his little brother sounds an awful lot like some cheap villain.

Papyrus finally turns to his smaller brother, "SANS!!"

The excitement is so strong, Sans starts matching Papyrus' vibrations, "yeah, bro? was that undyne?"

"YES IT WAS, AND YOU WILL NEVER GUESS WHAT SHE JUST SAID THE ROYAL SCIENTIST SAW ON HER CAMERAS RIGHT HERE IN SNOWDIN!!"

"let me guess: snowflakes have secretly been alive this whole time, plotting the ultimate demise of all monsterkind, and alphys has witnessed the beginnings of their uprising?" Sans' grin widens at his brother's confusion.

"WHAT?? NO. THAT'S NOT EVEN CLOSE??"

"well then I'm outta guesses," Sans shrugs as a wave of annoyance hits him.

"SINCE YOU CANNOT POSSIBLY GUESS, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL JUST TELL YOU MYSELF!" his scarf flutters behind him dramatically and his excitement comes back just as intense as before, "UNDYNE HAS TOLD ME THAT ALPHYS - THE ROYAL SCIENTIST- SAW A  _ HUMAN _ WANDERING AROUND HERE IN SNOWDIN FOREST!!!" he's practically shining with his glee, which puts Sans in a good mood as well, of course.

"you're kiddin'." His own eye lights gleam as he watches Papyrus practically jump around happily.

"I MOST CERTAINLY AM NOT! THOUGH I AM THE MASTER OF JAPES, THIS IS NOT ONE OF THEM!"

"huh, that so?" 

"YES! AND ANYWAY, AS I WAS SAYING ABOUT UNDYNE-" Papyrus cuts himself off as the kid suddenly steps into view. The curiosity in the air is heavy as Frisk measures up Papyrus and Papyrus tries to figure out who Frisk is.

Sans grins when Papyrus' excitement hits new heights as he figures out  _ what  _ Frisk is. Papyrus looks at Sans, the excitement keeping his words trapped inside his skull. Trying to speak through the overwhelming joy he looks back at the kid, then back at Sans, then back and forth and back and forth over and over getting faster and faster until he ends up just spinning around in speedy circles.

Infected by the excitement, Sans laughs and spins around with his brother. Why not!

Eventually, Papyrus seems to get himself together and points (quite dramatically) at Frisk, (who, this entire time, has grown more and more confused). Sans just closes his eyes and basks in the emotions of the moment. 

He's so happy! There's a human here, Papyrus' dream is finally coming true! He's going to be famous, and popular, and he's going to bathe in a shower of kisses every morning! And Sans is going to be right next to him, reveling in all the love and positivity surrounding his favorite person in existence!!

Sans zones back in on his surroundings just as Papyrus laughs and jogs down the path towards his puzzles. 

"that went well." He beams at the kid, still catching a drift of Papyrus' incredible happiness, but can now also feel the human's bemusement, "you mind playing along a little? i've never seen my bro this happy."

Frisk shrugs and nods. The Great Papyrus doesn't seem like such a bad guy if his biggest goal in life is to have friends. They're filled with hope at the thought that they might become one of his friends instead of getting captured. 

Frisk walks up to Sans, who is still standing there trying to hold onto these good emotions, and lift their hands to start signing to him, pointing at his head and his jacket, 'colors, two. Yellow, purple. Why?' 

"are ya talking about the stains on my jacket?" Sure enough, there are yellow and purple stains on his shoulders covering some previous stain, "sorry, but i don't know where those came from. maybe it happened in the laundry, or I spilled some weird food." He tries to shrug off their frustration as they point to his head.

'Red.' They reach up to touch his skull but Sans lets the frustration move his feet so he steps backwards out of reach.

"careful, it's not nice to touch people without permission." He eyes them as they huff.

'Fine. Find Papyrus I will.' They storm off in the same direction as Papyrus and Sans takes a couple deep breaths.

_ Why are they so obsessed with my jacket? Must be a clean freak or something. _

Sans takes it upon himself to watch Frisk from the shadows of the forest. After all, he has a promise he needs to take seriously. As they travel, they encounter a few Monsters and interact with them. Each time they'll both start curious, then there's a mix of nervousness, and determination, then surprise, then contentment as the kid does something to appease their opponent. 

He always steps out when they come to one of Papyrus' puzzles so he can support his brother's enthusiasm and encourage the human's trepidation. He takes particular care to often confuse the poor kid. Some deep enjoyment emerging from within himself each time they leave him in puzzlement. His favorite being the time he explained Blue Attacks by comparing them to a Red Stop Sign. 

Papyrus is having the time of his life! Not even Sans' poorly constructed "puzzle" produced enough annoyance to put out the excitement surrounding Sans like an electric blanket! And the best part? Each time Papyrus and Frisk interact with each other, they become more endeared to the other. Sans is having the time of his life! 

It's not just Papyrus either, every Monster that comes into contact with the kid leaves with a better impression of them. The kid even going out of their way to talk to everyone in the area and make as many friends as they can. Sans has not felt this much positivity in his entire life! It's a breath of fresh air, honestly. 

Eventually, the human makes it to the final puzzle. Sans and Papyrus stand at one edge of a long bridge suspended over a deep chasm, while Frisk walks towards them carefully. Sans fidgeting under their nerves.

They halt in the middle of the bridge as Papyrus' various sharp and swinging things are lowered to their level.

Sans is sweating profusely. 

"HUMAN! THIS IS YOUR FINAL AND MOST DANGEROUS CHALLENGE! BEHOLD!!" Papyrus gestures grandly at the assortment of blades and flamethrowers, "WHEN I SAY THE WORD, IT WILL FULLY ACTIVATE, AND ONLY THE TINIEST CHANCE OF VICTORY WILL REMAIN!! ARE YOU READY?" Sans' eyes go dark with the sudden fear that overpowers the excitement, "I. AM. ABOUT. TO. DO. IT!"

. . . Confusion? Sans opens his eyes. Nothing happens, the weapons remain still.

Worry. Papyrus wrings his hands together, glancing between Frisk and the dangerous objects.

"uh, bro, that doesn't look very activated." Sans offers. 

"AHEM. YES. WELL. I WAS THINKING… THIS CHALLENGE SEEMS TOO… DIRECT." Papyrus gains confidence as he speaks, "YES! THERE IS NO CLASS AT ALL! I AM A SKELETON WITH STANDARDS AFTER ALL, AND THIS MEETS NONE OF THOSE. AWAY IT GOES!!" Relief washes over them all as the weapons retreat back to whence they came. Papyrus cackles his obvious victory over japing the naive human and runs into town. 

Frisk finishes crossing the bridge and glances at the top of Sans' head but doesn't say anything this time. They just give him a small smile and follow Papyrus into town. 


	6. Trust and Betrayal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans stops by a grease trap while the Hope of Monsters wanders around Snowdin Town. Papyrus struggles with some complex feelings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To anyone who doubted (mostly me): I DID IT!! Here is the promised second chapter for today since I'll be gone for the weekend. I hope y'all enjoy it. Feel free to comment on things you read that you liked or things you'd like to see. 
> 
> And have a great day! 
> 
> P.s. Does anyone else remember the Purple Ketchup from back in the early 2000's? I remember eating it at a friend's house a couple times and it was the weirdest thing I'd ever eaten, but I haven't seen it since.

While the kid is hanging out in town, Sans stops by his favorite restaurant. Grillbys has the best (and cheapest) food in the Underground. He can already feel the good vibes coming from the patrons inside as he opens the door and steps inside.

"Sans!"

"Heya Sansy~"

"How are ya, Sans?"

Sans grins and waves to the regulars while he heads to his seat at the bar.

"hey guys, what's new?"

"Nothing much, for the most part things are pretty normal." The drunk bird next to him offers, "Some kid no one knows has been wandering around the forest I guess."

"Bark! It's true! The poor pup is just out there all alone..." 

"(And the forest isn't safe right now…)" the Dog Couple look at each other worriedly.

Sans doesn't like it when any negative feelings come into the bar, "Aw, I'm sure they're just kid-ding around." A few weak chuckles are offered and the somber mood vanished as people do what they came here to do: relax and forget that there's anything bad in the world. 

Sans relaxes into the warm, happy atmosphere as Grillby sets a plate of fries and a bottle of purple ketchup in front of him. Sans winks at him and dumps the delicious, purple mess all over his fries. 

_ Actually, while I'm thinking about it, this is probably where the stains on my jacket came from. _

Grillby used to only serve regular ketchup, but one day Sans was exploring the dump and found a discarded case of multi-colored ketchup. He tried one and just knew he could never go back to the regular stuff! He brought the case back to Grilbz and practically begged him to recreate it- specifically the purple one; it had the better flavor. 

No one else seemed to like it. Maybe the color threw them off? Sans didn't mind, it meant there was more for him! 

"so, grillby. you seen the new kid yet?" Sans munches on a hand full of his colorful fried food.

Grillby doesn't say anything. He just nods out towards the window and when Sans turns to look, he can see Frisk out there talking to some people standing around outside. 

"yeah, that's them. they seem like a good enough person, been making friends with everyone they can see." Sans chuckles, "my little bro has taken quite the shine to them." 

Dread and apprehension sneaks up on the peaceful atmosphere, startling Sans. He glances up at his friend.

"something wrong?"

".......................................... You trust them?" Grillby turns his eyes to the skeleton. Sans can vaguely see his eyes in the flames behind his glasses. They're tense, worried. Sans has never bothered to ask, but he heard a rumor that this fire elemental is old enough to have been in the Monster and Human War. That must be where this fear is coming from.

"yeah, grilbz." They hold eye contact for a moment. Sans' soul squirming uncomfortably under the uncertainty.

"......................................................... I trust you." 

And just like that, the peace is back. Sans is almost knocked off his seat by the intensity of trust and contentment. He can't believe that Grillby is willing to just drop years of trauma and pain based on the word of some boney Nobody.

"heh, that's a nice condi-pliment, g." He slides off his chair, ignoring the way Grillby crosses his arms in amusement, "i gotta go check on my bro now. i'll see you later, yeah?"

As he heads out the door, the cool horse by the jukebox calls out, "Hey Sans, be careful out there! I heard there's a Human somewhere out there."

Sans doesn't even turn around to respond, "well, there ya have it, straight from the horse's mouth." 

Amicable laughter follows him out and he stands right outside the door for a moment. The good feelings from that interaction still floating around him. He had been prepared to deal with the collective existential crisis from the people outside, but is pleasantly surprised by the amount of hope out here.

As he walks to his house, he listens in to the gossip around him.

"I heard there's a Human somewhere out there."

"That's the last soul we need! We're almost to the Surface!"

"No one's even been hurt yet."

"I'm sure the Royal Guard will capture the Human soon."

"King Asgore is going to set us free!"

"Have you met that new kid wandering around town?"

"They're so nice, I wonder where they're from."

"It won't matter soon. In just a short while, we'll all be able to just say 'I came from the Underground.'"

"Yeah… I'm so excited!"

Sans floats on air. 

….

"HUMAN."

Sans is shaken from his dazed happiness by the jarring voice of his baby brother. He looks around, but can't see anything in the fog he had wandered into.

"ALLOW ME TO TELL YOU ABOUT SOME COMPLEX FEELINGS."

_ Sans _ could tell them about these complex feelings. Joy, admiration, longing, insecurity; These must be what Papyrus is feeling, Sans knows his bro.

The human on the other hand, was probably the one giving off this sense of worry and endearment. 

"THAT MUST BE WHAT YOU ARE FEELING RIGHT NOW! I CAN HARDLY IMAGINE WHAT THAT'S LIKE."

Sans has to cover his teeth to keep himself from laughing as Frisk's own amusement skyrockets. It doesn't abate, especially as Papyrus launches into a moving speech about how he has plenty of friends and is never lonely and so he pities the poor human for being so friendless down here in the Underground. 

"AND SO, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE DECIDED THAT I WILL BE YOUR. . ." 

_ Friend? _

Sans leans forward, anticipation building. But suddenly guilt? Sadness? A sense of justice? Where is this coming from? It's so heavy!

"NO."

Frisk's shocked disbelief echoes in Sans' own soul. Papyrus  _ doesn't  _ want to be their friend? Why???

"I CAN'T BE YOUR FRIEND," hurt feelings are flying everywhere, "YOU ARE A HUMAN. AND I MUST CAPTURE YOU!" Betrayal squeezes Sans like an iron fist and tears come to his eyes as the human takes a step back away from Papyrus.

"POWERFUL. POPULAR. PRESTIGIOUS! THAT IS PAPYRUS! THE NEWEST MEMBER. . . Of The Royal Guard. . ." 

Papyrus starts an encounter; full of regret, but too stubborn to back down from his life's dream.

Frisk is reluctantly pulled in; filled with betrayal and fear, but determined to win this just like they have every other encounter.

Sans, still unable to see anything in the fog, and overwhelmed by the intense emotions flowing over him, sits on the ground with his head in his hands and holds back the tears for both of them.


	7. Cool Guy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Papyrus battles Frisk! Sans takes a long-awaited nap, and the coolest brother contest continues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UPDATE: AUG. 16- I can't get a chapter out today, guys. I've been so busy packing up and cleaning my apartment since I have to move out tomorrow morning. I will get chapter 8 done by tomorrow ♡ 
> 
> Why are chapter summaries so hard to come up with?
> 
> This chapter is inspired by a bit of Fan art I received from a friend out of the blue (WHICHIMSOHAPPYIGOTICANTGETOVERIT)!!!!!!! If you can, go check it out on my Instagram namoniheartflau4. There's a link to it at the end of the chapter.

The sounds of battle commence! Sans tries to peer through the fog and tears to catch a glimpse of what's happening, but his gaze only falls upon nothing but whiteness so he relies on his other senses to figure out what's going on. 

He can pick out the sound of Papyrus summoning his attacks, a shuffle in the snow as the attacks probably make their way towards the human. For once, Papyrus is talking softly enough that Sans can't make out what he's saying, but his signature cackle drifts over periodically. Is that the smell of bone cologne?? 

The human makes no sound. Well, maybe they're making sound, but it's too quiet for Sans to hear. 

The emotions aren't helping him figure out how the battle is going either. They're all mixing together into an uncomfortable mess. If he focuses, he can pick out a couple of the stronger ones.

Regret.

_Fear_.

**Insecurity**.

**_Determination_ **.

Attraction?

Embarrassment?

Amusement?

_what is going on over there?_ Sans feels his face heat up and a grin replace his worried frown as these emotions start to become more prevalent. Slowly, these more positive feelings overpower the negative ones until he is completely assured that everything is alright. If Papyrus is feeling this same way, then there's no way this battle could end badly.

Sans chuckles when his younger brother's voice is finally heard over the silent terrain.

"HEY! YOU STUPID DOG! STOP MUNCHING ON THAT BONE!!" 

Sans picks himself up out of the snow and follows the sound of yelling. The fog clears enough that he can finally see the human standing across from the taller skeleton. Now he can see the tears in their outfit and the bruises where attacks must have hit. Papyrus is yelling at a small dog that hurries off with one of Papyrus' attacks in its mouth.

"SIGH. I GUESS YOU'LL JUST HAVE TO HAVE THIS ABSOLUTELY NORMAL ATTACK." Sans frowns for Papyrus' disappointment, he has been working really hard on that attack. Still, Sans' little brother is the coolest, and so his "normal" attack ends up being the coolest also (as he demonstrates by spelling out 'COOL DUDE' with bones).

When a large wave of bones suddenly washes towards Frisk, Sans catches wind of their disbelief and sense of unfairness. There is no way they'll be able to jump over that when their soul is blue! Making a quick decision, Sans' own magic latches onto the human soul and he lifts them up and over even the tallest bone. 

The amount of surprise around him leads him to believe that neither of the combatants expected that to happen. Sans chuckles quietly to himself. The admiration is strong too as both the human and the monster appraise each other. 

"HUMAN! IT IS CLEAR THAT YOU CANNOT BEAT ME, NO MATTER HOW HARD YOU TRY!"

_how hard were they even trying?_

"THEREFORE, I HAVE ELECTED TO HAVE SOME PITY! I AM OFFERING YOU MERCY, HUMAN!"

Frisk and Sans both sigh in relief and swell with pride. Frisk nods in affirmation and chooses Mercy!

The battle ends!

Papyrus sighs, "I DID NO CAPTURE YOU. NOW I WILL NEVER BE A MEMBER OF THE ROYAL GUARD AND MY FRIEND COUNT WILL REMAIN STAGNANT." The disappointment is so heavy, Sans wonders if Frisk can feel it too. 

Speaking of the human, they lift their hands to get Papyrus' attention, hesitant excitement rolling off them, ' You. Me. Friend?'

It takes Papyrus a moment to decipher the meaning behind the hand movements, but when he finally gets it, the joy in the air hits a new level! 

"REALLY?? YOU WANT TO BE FRIENDS, WITH ME?? WOWIE! WE HAVEN'T EVEN GONE ON OUR FIRST DATE, AND I'VE ALREADY MANAGED TO HIT THE FRIEND ZONE!!" Papyrus swoops down and grabs up the child, swinging them in the air in an enthusiastic hug. Light laughter settles in the air next to Papyrus' own cackling. Sans, realizing the laughter must be coming from Frisk, feels his own soul jump against his ribcage, as if it wants to bust out and fly out across the underground singing about how happy he is! 

Papyrus deserves to have a friend that makes him this happy. Papyrus deserves to have someone who will want to hang out with him, even though he's so over the top sometimes.

_and if frisk can be that person,_ Sans thinks to himself, _then i won't even care if we never leave the underground._

He tunes back into the conversation happening between the two.

"ANYWAY, I WILL BE AT THE HOUSE BEING A COOL FRIEND. FEEL FREE TO STOP BY WHENEVER YOU WANT TO HAVE THAT DATE! NYEHEHEHEH!"

"what." Sans mumbles to himself as Papyrus takes off running towards town. He must have missed something important not to have known his baby brother had a date?? He watches as the excited human grins and dashes after Papyrus into town.

Sans takes a few steps and finds himself in his bedroom. By the excited panic he feels and frantic sound of cleaning from downstairs, he can only guess that Papyrus is proactively getting ready for his human guest. He finishes his task in record time (10 seconds flat) and the front door slams as he hurries outside to wait. Sans imagines that Papyrus would be terribly disappointed if the Human didn't show up, but when the excitement level increases, he knows they must have arrived. 

Sans smiles to himself and sinks into his bed. It's been a while since he was able to take a nap and the darkness envelops him quickly. The boisterous racket that is his brother fading into silence, and the excitement slips off him like oil on water. 

~~~~~~

_It's too loud!! Laughter! Crying. Screaming! Groaning. Giggling. Roaring! It fills and echoes around in Sans' skull._

_It's too bright! Yellows, blues, reds, greens, pinks, purples, all in different shades and intensity. Everywhere he looks, color is dripping down around him like oil._

**_it's too much._ ** _Every time he touches a color, a new emotion overcomes him. Some green drips onto his hand and fear grips him so tightly, he can't move. A little bit of blue spills into his eye sockets and is washed out by the tears that flow unbidden. His soul thumps pleasantly and his face heats up when something cold slides down his spine; he reaches back to touch it and then blinks at his now pink phalanges._

_Feeling overwhelmed, he stumbles through the puddles of color, looking for a way out of this mess. Each step soaking his slippers and dying his tibia and fibula different shades of emotion. Blue tears run down his pink zygomatic bones while his soul pounds angrily against his red-stained ribcage, and his green patella hesitate and shake with each step._

**_i can't breathe!_ **

_He collapses in the colorful mix and the oily substance invades his nasal cavity. He frantically starts trying to claw the green off his cranium, but the color sticks to his bones and he starts to panic._

**_help!!_ ** _The oils splash around him as he flails about, covering himself more. Just as he feels like he's about to drown, everything suddenly comes to a stop._

**_SANS._ **

_The oil around him turns into a soft pink._

**_IT'S OKAY NOW._ **

_Sans looks up, and for a moment, all he can see is yellow. These colors chase away all negativity until his soul finally calms down and he floats peacefully in the sea of pink._

**_paps?_ **

_He shifts his eye lights around to look for his brother, and there he is. His skull split by the widest, happiest smile. He's holding a yellow umbrella over his smaller brother with one hand while holding the other one out to help him up._

**_I'M RIGHT HERE, SANS, IT'S OKAY._ **

_Sans smiles and takes his brother's hand. Instead of helping Sans up though, Papyrus sits down next to him using the captured hand to pull Sans into his lap. He lets go of the umbrella, but it continues floating above them. Different colored oils still raining down onto the happy canopy and dripping off harmlessly around them. Sans takes a moment to look at the circle of pink acting as a barrier keeping the other colors at a distance as they sit together._

_Papyrus wraps both his arms around his older brother and rocks him back and forth, resting his skull on the smaller one._

_Sans smiles and soaks up the love, leaning back into the coolest guy he knows._

Papyrus rocks Sans on the bed. The date with the human ended hours ago, they left with a broken heart and a promise from him to help them find someone almost as great as he is for them to date. It was getting late by that point so they probably went to the Inn to sleep and he was coming to remind Sans that he needs a story before bed when he heard the panicked sounds of a nightmare.

He's never known what Sans' nightmares are about, but he knows that his older brother has a sensitive and fragile soul. Sans always seems to know how Papyrus feels and how to make it better, so the least Papyrus can do is comfort him during a moment like this. He can go one night without Fluffy Bunny.

After all, the coolest brother in the world deserves to be happy and loved just as much as Papyrus. 

[The Fan Art that inspired that last scene ♡](https://www.instagram.com/p/B1KFbpQBhe3/?igshid=ucyt0lzq69aq)


	8. Happy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk abuses a newfound power.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaand, there! Done by tomorrow, just like I said! *looks around* Oh, it's been a month??? Sorry, y'all! I don't know where the time went at all, I was so caught up reading other people's works... sorry. 
> 
> But here it is~ Hope not too many people got bored and gave up on me~
> 
> Edit: Welp. I'm still alive and I still want to keep updating this, I just go really distracted reading so many other fics that I didn't have time to write my own! (I went back to the earliest updated one and made my way forward to the present day, it takes a while *sweats*) There are SO MANY great writers out there!! 
> 
> But so yeah, I'm back! (If you're still reading this, feel free to comment so I can feed off your energy for some determination to finish this) I didn't like this chapter -It was lazy of me to time skip a whole month- so I went back and changed some things to make it flow a little better hopefully. Probably won't have a steady update pattern since my job has me working a lot of long shifts, so sorry about that. It will be better than it has been though!! 
> 
> SO ENJOY THIS REVISED CHAPTER AND LOOK FORWARD TO MY NEW ONE SOON :D

A couple days have passed since Frisk fell into the underground, and each one has been an absolute joy! No Monster can withstand the friendly advances of the kid. Well, all except for Undyne; Sans has been working hard to make sure those two don't meet despite the angry fish's best efforts.

Sans just can't stand the thought of Frisk's soul being taken anymore. This isn't even about the promise anymore, he cannot imagine a world without them now! This kid is happy all the time! Sans craves being around them, basking in their constant positivity. To say the two of them had become close friends would be an understatement. Heck, the first time they had a sleepover with Papyrus, Sans discovered that he didn't have any nightmares! He insisted they stay with them every night afterwards too.

Frisk wasn't Sans' friend, they were family as far as he was concerned. 

Frisk walks in the front door, returning from whatever adventure they had most recently been on. Sans turns his head to look at them from his relaxed position on the couch, an easy smile on his skull; ready for the warm rush of happiness that always accompanies their entrance into any room.

He was splashed with a cold sadness and a sick worry. In a flash his smile is gone and he's up on his feet.

"frisk? what's wrong?" 

Frisk glances up to the top of his skull and winces, making an obscure gesture that kinda looked like the word 'blue' but then they fixed their eyes on his eye lights. 

'Go home, I want.' Their hands shake and nervousness rolls off them.

"you want to go home?" Sans' confusion is clear in the question, but it's not because he didn't understand their signs.

'My home.' They point upwards and Sans feels his soul sink to the bottom of his ribcage.

"why?"

Frisk shrugs and makes a vague gesture.

"aren't you… aren't you happy here?" Frisk is surprised, then happy, then guilty when they nod their head, "then why? frisk, i'm happy you're here too." 

'Know that.'

"then why?? you can stay here. everyone loves you, i'll protect you from anything, stay with me!" The heavy sadness and slight fear around the two of them is driving Sans down to near hysteria. Frisk looks at his jacket, then his head, and guilt washes over them.

'Stay can't… help me?' They glance at the ground, hope trying to push away the other terrible emotions they feel.

"help?" Sans' tears stop gathering in the corners of his sockets.

'Leave want. Survive can't. U-N-D-Y-N-E kill me will. Help me? Please'

Sans stares at the small human in front of him. In the back of his mind he knows he has no right to keep them here, their sadness is evidence of that. Still, the thought that he'll lose the steady source of happiness he's found, the thought that the Underground will lose this bundle of joy, the knowledge that they would also lose the king that gave everyone hope for a brighter future, it stirred something in his own SOUL. A fear and grief that, for a small moment of clarity, was entirely his own. 

'Stay can't. Help please.'

"no." The short skeleton broke eye contact. Frisk's surprise and hurt almost breaks his connection to his SOUL, but he clings onto it, desperate not to be influenced by any outside force.

He can see Frisk's arms moving frantically, trying to get his attention and speak to him.

"sorry, frisk, i can't- i'm being selfish for just once in my life. please don't leave me. you… you make me feel happy, genuinely happy!" He finally looks at them, finding a little bit of his own happiness while doing so, "if you leave… i just- i won't help you."

A wave of sadness from Frisk finally severs his connection and the tears actually fall this time, "frisk, please. i promised to protect you, don't leave."

Frisk's lips quiver, 'Really? You promised?' Sans nods, 'I influence you happy?' Sans nods again. Frisk closes their eyes and takes a couple deep breaths. When they open them again, they're focused on the top of his head. A couple of deep breaths later, warm happiness filled Sans' senses and they smile at each other.

"you're going to stay?" Sans sticks his hands in his pockets, glad they've come to an understanding.

'No.' Frisk replies with a beaming smile.

Sans blinks, his smile droops a little, but the positivity remains.

"what?"

'Leave now I will. Inform P-Spaghetti goodbye.' With a bright grin, the child turns and walks out the front door. 

Sans stand there where the kid left him for a couple long minutes, staring at the spot they used to occupy.

what just happened? they're gone… why am I happy? why are they happy? 

He doesn't move until Papyrus walks in the front door half an hour later.

"SANS! DID YOU LOSE SOMETHING ON THE FLOOR?" His amused curiosity snaps Sans out of his daze and he looks up at his little brother. 

"nah, gravity was just too heavy on my eye lights." He shrugs.

"OH, WELL, I'M SORRY TO HEAR THAT. I WILL START ON DINNER SOON, WILL YOU LET FRISK KNOW?"

"i don't think frisk will be home for dinner, paps." He looks away from the tall skeleton, wishing he was sad about that, but Papyrus just hums in thought.

"I'LL PUT THEIR PLATE IN THE FRIDGE FOR LATER THEN." He strolls into the kitchen to begin making his signature dish while Sans continues his staring contest with the door as if he could will the human to walk back through.


End file.
